The Importance of Setting Treatment Goals for Cardiovascular Diseases

Background: Guidelines are issued by most major organizations that focus on a specific disease entity. Guidelines should be a significant help to the practicing physician who may not be up-to-date with the recent medical literature. Unfortunately, when conflicting guidelines for a specific disease are published, confusion results. Purpose: This article provides a suggested guideline outcome measure that would benefit the physician and patient. Methods: A review of 19 different guidelines for cardiovascular disease treatment is one example of the lack of specific outcomes that currently exist. The basic problem with most guidelines is that they do not state the expected end result (i.e., the benefit to the patient) if that guideline is followed. When guidelines use cardiovascular disease risk factors to dictate therapy, the end benefit is never stated so that the patient can make an appropriate choice of which (if any) guideline to follow. Results: A good example is guidelines published by the American Heart Association for reducing cardiovascular disease. These guidelines are risk factor based and only indicate that cardiovascular disease would be reduced if followed. No specific percentage in the reduction of the incidence of disease is given. In contrast, when elimination of the disease is the stated goal of the guideline, the end result is clear. To date, this goal has been stated by only one organization devoted to eliminating cardiovascular disease. Conclusion: Guidelines need to be written to provide the physician and the patient with a specific end point that is expected when the guideline is followed. Patient acceptance and compliance will be much improved if the patient knows the risk/benefit of following the guideline’s recommendations.

Spatial differences of Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)among counties(cities)on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains

The county(city)located on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains is the primary area to solidify and extend the success of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China in poverty alleviation.Its Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)are intertwined with the concerted economic and social development of Xinjiang and the objective of achieving shared prosperity within the region.This study established a sustainable development evaluation framework by selecting 15 SDGs and 20 secondary indicators from the United Nations’SDGs.The aim of this study is to quantitatively assess the progress of SDGs at the county(city)level on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains.The results indicate that there are substantial variations in the scores of SDGs among the nine counties and one city located on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains.Notable high scores of SDGs are observed in the central and eastern regions,whereas lower scores are prevalent in the western areas.The scores of SDGs,in descending order,are as follows:62.22 for Minfeng County,54.22 for Hotan City,50.21 for Qiemo County,42.54 for Moyu County,41.56 for Ruoqiang County,41.39 for Qira County,39.86 for Lop County,38.25 for Yutian County,38.10 for Pishan County,and 36.87 for Hotan County.The performances of SDGs reveal that Hotan City,Lop County,Minfeng County,and Ruoqiang County have significant sustainable development capacity because they have three or more SDGs ranked as green color.However,Hotan County,Moyu County,Qira County,and Yutian County show the poorest performance,as they lack SDGs with green color.It is important to establish and enhance mechanisms that can ensure sustained income growth among poverty alleviation beneficiaries,sustained improvement in the capacity of rural governance,and the gradual improvement of social security system.These measures will facilitate the effective implementation of SDGs.Finally,this study offers a valuable support for governmental authorities and relevant departments in their decision-making processes.In addition,these results hold significant reference value for assessing SDGs at the county(city)level,particularly in areas characterized by low levels of economic development.

Knowledge Gaps in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Impacts on Biodiversity Conservation in Nairobi, Kenya

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to ensure environmental sustainability is enhanced focusing on the future generation. Knowledge of the SDGs becomes pivotal in biodiversity conservation thus, a gap impacts such efforts on protecting and preserving biodiversity habits difficult. Nairobi City was chosen because of her unique ecosystem that habits wildlife and urban life with great prospects of being East Africa’s business hub. With an estimated double city population by 2030, knowledge of SDGs would be useful in enhancing biodiversity conservation in unique cities like Nairobi. Thus, a gap in the knowledge of SDGs threatens the future of biodiversity unless it is mitigated. The study employed a cross-sectional design that caters to qualitative and quantitative data. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and key informant interviews. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model was adopted to evaluate how determinants of human perceptions, decisions, and activities related to implementing sustainable development goals impact biodiversity conservation. Results indicate that respondents’ knowledge (30.5% ± 2.01%), attitudes (30.4% ± 1.56%), and practice (26.3% ± 0.08%) on implementation of SDGs was significantly low. Further, a majority believed that lack of awareness of SDGs 87% impacts biodiversity conservation, coupled with 12% and 1%, respectively, who opined that limited SDGs knowledge sharing and corruption were barriers to biodiversity conservation. The majority of respondents believed that increased awareness of SDGs (78.2% ± 2.61%), and strengthened institutional capacity (58.7% ± 3.01%) underscores SDGs’ importance in biodiversity conservation. Knowledge of SDGs is pivotal in the enhancement of biodiversity conservation.

Research on the Spatiotemporal Evolution,and Optimized Paths of Carbon Pressure in Northwestern Sichuan under the Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals

Consolidating carbon sink capacity and reducing carbon pressure are important channels to achieve the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals actively yet prudently.In order to study the current situation of carbon pressure in the Northwestern Sichuan,we took the carbon pressure of the Aba Tibetan-Qiang autonomous prefecture(Aba prefecture)as an example and used the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)approach to measure the carbon emissions,carbon uptake,and the carbon balance index(CBI)of each county-level city in Aba prefecture from 2012 to 2020.The study found that:(a)There was a continuous trend of declining carbon emissions,increased carbon uptake,and decreased CBI in Aba prefecture during the sample period,but there is a large variability among county-level cities;(b)Aba prefecture differs in the spatiotemporal distribution of carbon emissions,carbon uptake,and CBI.Based on the research results,we propose several optimized paths for alleviating the current carbon pressure situation in the Northwestern Sichuan.

LASG全球海洋-大气-陆面系统模式(GOALS/LASG)及其模拟研究

该文扼要介绍了ＬＡＳＧ第一版本全球海洋－大气－陆面系统模式（ＧＯＡＬＳ／ＬＡＳＧ）的发展和结构，及其对气候平均态、季节变化和年际变化的模拟，以及近期发展计划．

GOALS模式对热带太平洋ENSO年际变化特征的模拟评估

文中重点分析了中国科学院大气物理研究所LASG最新发展的全球大气环流谱模式 (R4 2L9)与一全球海洋环流模式 (T6 3L30 )耦合形成的全球海洋 大气 陆面气候系统模式 (GOALS/LASG)新版本已积分 30a的模拟结果 ,通过与多种观测资料的对比分析 ,讨论了赤道太平洋海表温度 (SST)的年际变化及其纬向传播、赤道东太平洋SST异常与其他洋面SST变化之间的遥相关关系、赤道太平洋浅表层海温的年际变化特征等研究内容。结果表明 ,GOALS模式模拟出了赤道太平洋SST异常出现不规则的年际变化特点 ;赤道东太平洋SST异常的向西传播过程 ;赤道太平洋混合层海温变化由西向东、由深层向浅层的传播过程 ;同时也模拟出了赤道东太平洋SST变化与赤道西太平洋以及与西南太平洋海温之间的反相关关系 ,与南印度洋和副热带大西洋SST之间的正遥相关关系等实际观测现象。但GOALS模式也存在明显的不足 ,如对赤道东、中太平洋SST异常的年际变化幅度明显偏小 ,没能模拟出赤道东太平洋的SST变化比赤道中太平洋强的特点 ;赤道太平洋SST从东向西的传播速度明显比实际观测慢得多 ,但混合层海温极值变化由西向东的传播速度明显比实际情况快得多 ;没能模拟出赤道东太平洋SST变化同西北太平洋SST的负相关和北印度洋海温变化的正相关现象 ,因此?

The North Atlantic Oscillation Simulated by Versions 2 and 4 of IAP/ LASG GOALS Model

The capabilities of two versions of the Global–Ocean–Atmosphere–Land–System model (i.e. GOALS–2 and GOALS–4) developed at State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), are validated in terms of the simulations of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which is currently the subject of considerable scientific interest. The results show that both GOALS–2 and GOALS–4 exhibit a realistic NAO signal associated with relatively reasonable spatial patterns of sea level pressure, surface air temperature, and precipitation. Generally speaking, the associated patterns of precipitation in GOALSs match better with the observation in comparison with the case of surface temperature. For the imprint of NAO on the ocean, or perhaps a coupling between the two fluids, the associated tripole patterns of the North Atlantic SST anomaly are presented distinctly in GOALS–2, for GOALS-4 however, this is not the case. Spatially, the models’ main deficiencies appear to be that the simulated Icelandic lows shift northward apparently, which in turn result in the blemish of GOALSs in reproducing the accompanied surface wind anomalies. For the interannual and even longer time scale variations of DJF sea level pressure (SLP) over the North Atlantic region, GOALSs reproduce the center with the strongest variability rationally, but the intensities are far weaker than the observation. Key words North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) - Model evaluation - GOALS model This study was jointly supported by the National key Project (Grant No. 96-908-02-03), the Excel-lent National Key Laboratory Research Project (Grant NO. 49823002), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) under grant “ Bai Ren Ji Hua” for “ Validation of Coupled Climate Models”, and IAP innova-tion fund (No.8-1204).The authors gratefully acknowledge Dv. Jin Xuingze, Mr. Liu Xiying in IAP /LASG, and Dr. Gong Daoyi in Geophysical Department of Peking University for providing ardent help.

The Performance of Atmospheric Component Model R42L9 of GOALS/LASG

This paper examines the performance of an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) developed at the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics (LASG/IAP). It is a spectral model truncated at R42(2.8125°long×1.66°lat) resolution and with nine vertical levels, and referred to as R42L9/LASG hereafter. It is also the new version of atmospheric component model R15L9 of the global ocean-atmosphere-land system (GOALS/LASG). A 40-year simulation in which the model is forced with the climatological monthly mean sea surface temperature is compared with the 40-year (1958-97) U.S. National Center for Environmental Prediction (NGEP) global reanalysis and the 22-year (1979-2000) Xie-Arkin monthly precipitation climatology. The mean DJF and JJA geographical distributions of precipitation, sea level pressure, 500-hPa geopotential height, 850-hPa and 200-hPa zonal wind, and other fields averaged for the last 30-year integration of the R42L9 model are analyzed. Results show that the model reproduces well the observed basic patterns, particularly precipitation over the East Asian region. Comparing the new model with R15L9/LASG, the old version with coarse resolution (nearly 7.5°long×4.5°lat), shows an obvious improvement in the simulation of regional climate, especially precipitation. The weaknesses in simulation and future improvements of the model are also discussed.

Automatic User Goals Identification Based on Anchor Text and Click-Through Data

Understanding the underlying goal behind a user＇s Web query has been proved to be helpful to improve the quality of search. This paper focuses on the problem of automatic identification of query types according to the goals. Four novel entropy-based features extracted from anchor data and click-through data are proposed, and a support vector machines （SVM） classifier is used to identify the user＇s goal based on these features. Experi- mental results show that the proposed entropy-based features are more effective than those reported in previous work. By combin- ing multiple features the goals for more than 97% of the queries studied can be correctly identified. Besides these, this paper reaches the following important conclusions： First, anchor-based features are more effective than click-through-based features; Second, the number of sites is more reliable than the number of links; Third, click-distribution- based features are more effective than session-based ones.

Cross-national Perspectives on Using Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) Indicators for Monitoring Sustainable Development: A Database and Analysis

Sustainable development is the theme of the 21st century. To monitor the progress of sustainable development, the United Nations launched Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) in 2015. Subsequently, nations of the world have drawn up a list of localized indicators regarding the United Nations SDGs as a paradigm. We established a database including SDGs indicator systems of 11 economies by collecting and determining a large number of materials. Based on this database, we analyzed SDGs indicators by designing a conceptual framework of comparative analysis that included three views. We found that the SDGs indicator systems of 11 economies are different between the number of indicators, the proportion of different categories, and the connotation of indicators. Although the SDGs indicator systems among economies regarded the United Nations SDGs as a framework and included the major social problems related to sustainability, the inconsistency between SDGs indicator systems is large. It is a major reason why scholars lack the systematic method for developing indicators. There are challenges faced in data accessibility. The framework for comparative analysis could be applied to different economies.

Prioritizing sustainable development goals and linking them to ecosystem services:A global expert’s knowledge evaluation

The implementation of strategies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)is frequently hindered by potential trade-offs between priorities for either environmental protection or human well-being.However,ecosystem services(ES)-based solutions can offer possible co-benefits for SDGs implementation that are often overlooked or underexploited.In this study,we cover this gap and investigate how experts from different countries value the SDGs and relate them with ES.A total of 66 countries participated to the survey,and answers were grouped into three macro-regions:Asia;Europe,North America,and Oceania(ENO);Latin America,Caribbean and Africa(LA).Results show that the most prioritized SDGs in the three macro-regions are usually those related to essential material needs and environmental conditions,such as SDG2(Zero Hunger),SDG1(No Poverty),and SDG6(Clean Water).At a global scale,the number of prioritized synergies between SDGs and ES largely exceeded trade-offs.The highest amount of synergies was observed for SDG1(No Poverty),mainly with SDG2,SDG3(Good Health),SDG5(Gender Equality),and SDG8(Economic Growth).Other major synergies among SDGs include SDG14-15(Life below water-Life on land),SDG5-10(Gender Equity-Reduced Inequality),and SDG1-2(No poverty-Zero Hunger).At a global scale,SDG15,SDG13,SDG14,and SDG6 were closely related to ES like climate regulation,freshwater,food,water purification,biodiversity,and education.SDG11(Sustainable Cities)and SDG3 were also relevant in Asia and in LA,respectively.Overall,this study shows the potential to couple future policies that can implement SDGs’strategies while adopting ES-based solutions in different regions of the world.

Identifying interlinkages between urbanization and Sustainable Development Goals

Urbanization and Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)are important global issues in the current“Anthropocene”.Climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated global urban problems and hindered the ability to meet SDGs on time,while the broad interlinkages between urbanization and the SDGs remain poorly understood.This study shows that among the interlinkages of urbanization with 17 SDGs,synergies are observed with 151 targets(89%),among which 67(40%)have stronger synergies,and trade-offs are observed with 66 targets(39%),among which 31(18%)have stronger trade-offs.Furthermore,the synergies and trade-offs between urbanization and the achievement of SDGs are specifically analyzed based on four fundamental interaction fields:(a)public health and social welfare equality;(b)energy consumption and economic growth;(c)natural resource use and ecological/environmental impacts;and(d)international cooperation for development.Finally,based on these analyses,we propose four recommendations for sustainable urbanization,including(a)shared well-being and spatial justice for urban and rural residents;(b)guiding green and low-carbon urban development;(c)building resilient cities;and(d)promoting multilateral cooperation in cities,which can contribute to the achievement of SDGs by 2030.

Integrate ecosystem services into socio-economic development to enhance achievement of sustainable development goals in the post-pandemic era

The COVID-19 pandemic has stalled and rolled back progress on Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).Ecosys-tem services(ESs),defined as the contributions of ecosystems to human well-being,underpin the achievement of SDGs.To promote SDG achievement in post-pandemic era,we teased out the links between ESs and SDGs while examining the impact of COVID-19.We found that ESs benefited all SDGs,yet man-made pressures led to degra-dation of ecosystems and their services.There is broad consensus that the virus lurks in degraded ecosystems and generates spillover due to human interference.The pandemic and global lockdown/restriction disrupted the flow of ESs and altered human ESs demand,threatening the efforts for the SDGs.We suggested:1)to study the association and traceability of ESs-SDGs under the pandemic;2)to prioritize pressing issues such as health care,livelihood,and resource security and in the long run,we should promote human-nature harmony to achieve the SDGs;and 3)to enhance ESs and to promote the SDGs through local community efforts,ESs accounting,and ecosystem restoration.This paper provides insights into the importance of ESs to the SDGs and the ways to integrate ESs into socio-economic development to promote the SDG achievement after the pandemic.

Five tips for China to realize its co-targets of climate mitigation and Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)

In 2018,a total of US$166 billion global economic losses and a new high of 55.3 Gt of CO_(2)equivalent emission were generated by 831 climate-related extreme events.As the world’s largest CO_(2)emitter,we reported China’s recent progresses and pitfalls in climate actions to achieve climate mitigation targets(i.e.,limit warming to 1.5-2°C above the pre-industrial level).We first summarized China’s integrated actions(2015 onwards)that benefit both climate change mitigation and Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).These projects include re-structuring organizations,establishing working goals and actions,amending laws and regulations at national level,as well as increasing social awareness at community level.We then pointed out the shortcomings in different regions and sectors.Based on these analyses,we proposed five recommendations to help China improving its climate policy strategies,which include:1)restructuring the economy to balance short-term and long-term conflicts;2)developing circular economy with recycling mechanism and infrastructure;3)building up unified national standards and more accurate indicators;4)completing market mechanism for green economy and encouraging green consumption;and 5)enhancing technology innovations and local incentives via bottom-up actions.

China's contribution to the millennium development goals: achieving tuberculosis control targets ahead of deadline

The millennium development goals (MDGs) were eight international development targets for the year 2015 that were established following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration in 2000.The MDGs are aimed at reducing extreme poverty and set a series of time-bound goals,particularly in health,gender equality,and environmental sustainability [1].The target set for tuberculosis (TB) was to reduce TB prevalence and mortality rates by half by 2015 compared to the 1990 baseline rates [2].China has in fact achieved the TB targets five years ahead of the scheduled timeline [3].From 1990 through 2010,TB case detections had decreased by 65%,from 170 to 59 cases per 100000 population and the mortality rates by almost 80% [4].

Inferring Requirement Goals from Model Implemented in UML

UML is used widely in many software development processes.However,it does not make explicit requirement goals. Here is a method tending to establish the semantic relationship between requirements goals and UML models.Before the method is introduced, some relevant concepts are described.

Review of Problems of Adolescent Sexual Behavior and the Role of Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6 in Nigeria

Introduction: The problems of adolescents’ sexual behavior are grave and far-reaching. Methods: Review of exiting literature via Google scholar, AJOL, Pubmed, HINARI and other relevant data bases on the common problems of adolescents’ inappropriate sexual behavior. Result: Adolescent sexual behavior could result in adolescent pregnancy which prevalence varies widely throughout Nigeria perhaps due to differences in culture and development. Abortion, the willful termination of pregnancy is another problem which is often undertaken for pregnancies resulting from incest and sexual abuse. Also common is trans-generational sex which occurs when an adolescent has non-marital sex in the last 12 months with a man who is at least 10 years older than her. Also related to this, is transactional sex found in both committed and casual relationships. It is not always done for survival because in some cultures, sex for favor is carried out for reasons other than subsistence. Furthermore, multiple sexual partners are the engagement in sex with more than one partner over a particular time frame. It may be sequential or concurrent. The high prevalence of these problems in Nigeria raises a question of the possibility of achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs) 4, 5 and 6 specifically targeted at reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases respectively. Conclusion: Policies and strategies such as family life and HIV/AIDs education (FLHE) curriculum on adolescent reproductive health should be pursued with greater vigor in our secondary schools in addition to establishing HIV counseling centers and vocational training programs for out-of-school adolescents. WHO support and commitment to key action areas for countries and member states will build and strengthen their capacity to improve reproductive and sexual health.

Blood pressure goals: A moving target

Clinical guidelines on hypertension have evolved over the past several decades. Each recommends varying blood pressure(BP) cut-offs which define hypertension, determine the thresholds to initiate pharmacotherapy, and guide treatment targets. In addition, different techniques of measuring BP in clinical trials may further contribute to the discrepancies in the achieved BP targets. Physicians find it difficult to navigate through different recommendations for hypertension management based on studies among different age groups and patients with a variety of co-morbidities and target organ involvement. In 2003, JNC 7 recommended a BP goal of <140/90 mmHg in the general population and <130/80 mmHg in those with diabetes mellitus or renal disease. JNC 8 re-set the BP target at <140/90 mm Hg for all adults under the age of 60 regardless of co-morbidities, and an even higher target of <150/90 mm Hg for those 60 years or older without diabetes or chronic kidney disease. The more recent results of the Systolic BP Intervention Trial(SPRINT) have a significant influence on the 2017 American College of Cardiology(ACC) and American Heart Association(AHA) guideline which redefines hypertension as BP ≥130/80 mmHg. It emphasizes individualized cardiovascular risk assessment and recommends a more aggressive BP target of <130/80 mmHg and a treatment threshold based on the age, co-morbidities, and cardiovascular risk. The 2017 ACC/AHA guideline also advocates proper BP measurement and provides the estimates of corresponding BP values for clinic, home, and ambulatory BP monitoring measurements. A higher prevalence of hypertension is expected based on the ACC/AHA 2017 guideline. Its implementation may potentially lead to better BP control through enhanced awareness, improved adherence, and more timely initiation and intensification of pharmacologic therapy. Although there is no one-size-fits-all BP target, the ACC/AHA 2017 guideline is simple, inclusive and practical. Nonetheless, more studies are warranted to help further individualize BP goals for elderly patients and those with certain co-morbidities or multiple cardiovascular risk factors.

Influence of Unconscious Emotional Control Goals Priming on Anticipatory Anxiety and Physiological Activity

Individuals frequently generate emotion during the anticipation process and the anticipatory emotion has an important adaptive significance, especially the negative anticipative emotion. Many researches used conscious emotion regulation strategy and successfully reduced negative anticipatory emotion. However, it is costly for our limited cognition. In the present study, we used sentence unscrambling tasks to prime unconscious emotion control goal and investigated its effect on anticipatory anxiety, including experience and physiological activity. The results showed that 1) relative to anticipating neutral images, participations’ anxiety experience and skin conductance level were higher when anticipating negative and unknown images;2) participants who had a unconscious emotion control goal primed achieved the same decrease in skin conductance as those explicitly instructed to reappraise, compared to a control group;3) heart rate was not affected by experiment condition and anticipation type. Together, these findings suggest that unconscious emotion regulation may provide an effective mean of regulating negative anticipatory emotion.

Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Ready-Made Garment Industry of Bangladesh in Order to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals: A Study on Bangladeshi Garment Manufacturers

The Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector has played the most momentous role for the economic development of Bangladesh. To achieve the culmination, this labor-intensive industry needs to go through sustainable practices with the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in its garment manufacturing chain. CSR, being a fast-developing phenomenon in industrial arena, is drawing the attention of world-renowned apparel buyers working with Bangladesh. After a few tragic occurrences, for instance, Rana Plaza collapse & Tazreen Fashion fire, the reputation of the RMG sector of Bangladesh has been somewhat blemished. Presently, this scenario is being changed since a considerable number of Bangladeshi garment producers have adopted CSR practices spending a huge sum of money. This study shows the current status of sustainable development through the implementation of CSR practices in the RMG industry of Bangladesh.